1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a general indexing and compression scheme for supporting graphics and data selection, and more particularly, to a method for displaying and selecting a distribution of all data fields in a selected database. The method of the present invention allows a user to choose fields in a particular database, build a distribution of the data in the fields, graphically view the data structure, and select specific sets of data to determine the effect of adding or subtracting data to the selected sets on the remaining data fields.
2. Discussion of the Prior Art
Over the past twenty years or so, advancement in the art of computerized information storage and retrieval has significantly expanded man's capability for efficiently assessing information. Todays computers with enhanced integrated circuit technology are capable of storing tremendous amounts of information, or to be more exact, data. Accordingly, there is an ever increasing need for the development of systems and processes capable of managing the data and which permit the efficient utilization of the data. The efficiency of computerized information storage and retrieval systems is directly related to how efficiently the database can be searched and how quickly records from the database can be retrieved. There are a plurality of systems and methods currently available which utilize various combinations of filing schemes, indexing schemes, and data compression schemes to enhance the efficiency of data manipulation; however, the efficient retrieval of data is really only the first step in the process. The display of the data in a way that is meaningful to the system user is a second and necessary step of the process, because no matter how fast one can access data, if the data retrieved is arbitrarily displayed on the screen or monitor, then the data is meaningless to the user. In addition to displaying the data in a meaningful way, the system user should have the capability of selectively displaying certain detailed aspects of the data structure and determining the effect of adding or deleting data to the selected sets on the remaining data fields.
The prior art references individually disclose systems and methods for the filing, indexing, compression, retrieval, and the display of data in a computer system; however, there appears to be no reference disclosing a system or method for the filling, indexing, compression, retrieval, and display of data in one single embodiment wherein the system user has the capability of selecting specific sets of data to determine the representative effect on the remaining data fields. The following references are representative examples of state of the art systems and methods capable of performing some of the above listed functions, but not all.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,817,036, Millett et al. discloses a computer system and method for database indexing and information retrieval. A number of keywords are selected and each record of a database is searched to determine in which records each keyword appears. The central processing unit of the system then creates a vector of each keyword which identifies each record number of the database where the keyword appears and numerically sorts the record numbers. A special bit processor next transforms each vector into a bit string that is identified by one of the keywords. The bit strings are returned to the central processing unit and stored in secondary storage so as to form an index for the database. To retrieve information, one or more keywords are input to the central processing unit. The input keywords are used by the central processing unit to identify the bit string for each keyword. The keywords may be logically joined using "AND", "OR", and/or "NOT" commands. Each bit string retrieved from the index is then sent to the special purpose bit processor, which combines the bit strings according to the particular command. The resultant bit string is transformed by the bit processor into a vector which is returned to the central processing unit and which then is used to identify the individual records which contain the combined keywords.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,961,139, Hong et al. discloses a database management system for real-time applications. A real-time database provides the predictable, high speed data access required for on-line applications, while providing flexible searching capabilities. The data retrieval routines include the option to "read-through-lock" to access data in locked data tables, the capability to directly access the data using tuple identifiers, and the capability to directly access unformatted data from input areas which contain blocks of unformatted data. The data updating routines include an option to omit index updating when updating data and an option to update data in a locked data table. Multiple indexes can be defined for a data table. Thus, high speed searches can be performed based on a variety of data fields. The data storage and retrieval mechanisms are independent and there are hash index tables that connect the multiple index keys to the data tables. The data table structure includes a column defined for storing tuple identifier strings. These tuple identifiers can be used as pointers for chaining to related data stored in other data tables. The database has relatively small programmable memory. There is a common structure for user data tables, index tables, and system data tables. The database includes a minimum number of routines with certain routines providing multiple functionality.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,232,375, Paugstat et al. discloses a data compression system and apparatus. The system compresses a binary data message generated by a digital input device. The compression process is based upon the deletion of redundant information. The data compression apparatus includes means for storing portions of a first data message generated by a terminal device as the result of a merchandising transaction performed during the time the CPU is disabled, counter means for deleting all redundant data characters of each data message, means for comparing preselected data characters of each succeeding data message with the corresponding data characters of the first data message stored in the terminal device for deleting those data characters when a comparison is found, and table look-up means for selecting a start of record character in accordance with a data character representing the type of data transaction being processed, the start of record character indicating the start of the compressed data record in addition to the transaction type where there is an absence of data in another portion of the compressed data record.
The first reference is representative of a group of references directed to systems and methods for the indexing and retrieval of data in a database. The second reference is representative of a group of references directed to the creation of databases and database management systems. The third reference is representative of a group of references directed to systems and methods for the compression of data to avoid wasting memory. None of the cited references, however, specifically discloses a system which utilizes a process wherein a distribution of data is built from the data contained in a particular database and then graphically displayed with the capability to selectively add or delete data to the distribution and determine the effect of such addition or deletion of data on the remaining data fields in the distribution built from the data contained within the particular database.